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Up Topic Welding Industry / Technical Discussions / Wire feed and arc problems
- - By brien Date 09-30-2007 16:18
I have a lincoln weldpak 100 that has developed a wire feed and arc problem.
I have replaced the switching relays to no avail. It will power the gas solenoid, but that's it.
If one of the power diodes has gone out will it cause this problem ?
Does anyone know where I can get a new power diode  "m9661-40ru" if one is bad.
The least one I've seen so far was 53.00.
Any help is really appriciated
Brien
Parent - - By Lawrence (*****) Date 09-30-2007 18:41
Have you checked all the mechanical possibilities ?

Kink in liner?

Debris in liner?

Replace contact tube?

Solid connection to contactor?

When you hit the trigger are the rollers moving at all?

If the rollers are not turning, remove all tension and wire, and check again, are they turning now?
Parent - By ctacker (****) Date 09-30-2007 19:47
also alot of times the tip will "look" good,but the wire will not push thru it!
Parent - - By aevald (*****) Date 09-30-2007 20:22
Hello brien, as Lawrence and ctacker have pointed out there are a number of things that can have an effect on wire feeding and other things related to machine operation. They are trying to provide you with things that should be checked before getting radical with a bunch of internal issues.
     When wire doesn't feed there are a host of things that can cause that problem, you need to go through the checklist similar to the one Lawrence posted. If the spool tensioning system is set-up too tightly that can cause the wire to stop feeding, if the wire has a cross wound into it due to improper handling of the spool before installing it onto the machine it can tie a knot in itself and stop wire from feeding. When the wire stops feeding it can either cause the feed rolls to stop turning completely or cause them to slip. I don't recall whether this particular machine has a thermal reset on it, but if it does it is possible that a birdnesting of the wire could have caused a short that tripped this reset or there could have been an overload of the feeder drive motor because you may have continued to depress the gun trigger and the drive motor hasn't been able to move so this may have tripped this reset. Getting back to gun and liner issues. A relatively quick way to tell if you have feed issues resulting from problems starting at the contact tip and working back to the spool tensioning mechanism. Release the feed roll tensioning arm so that it has no pressure on the wire, then take a pair of pliers and try pulling the wire through the system. It should pull with a slight bit of resistance but not of any noticeable amount. Next remove the contact tip and slide it off the end of the wire, if you notice a lot of pull when you are sliding the contact tip off that will be an indicator that the tip needs to be replaced. With the contact tip removed repeat the wire pulling scenario, if the wire still appears to have a lot of resistance, disconnect the gun from the wire feed block and slide it off of the wire, if you notice a lot of resistance when doing this it may indicate that the liner is possibly in need of cleaning or replacement or possibly had a kink or damage to it due to misuse or having something dropped on it. You've got basically two things left at this point, there is a wire guide that helps to line up the wire as it comes off of the spool and then aligns it with the drive rollers, sometimes this guide can get clogged or it can have tracks worn in it that will impede the wire feeding, loosen it and see how easily it slides on the wire, if it doesn't either clean it or replace it. Finally, you've got the spool tensioning mechanism, pull on the wire and see how much resistance you feel when doing this, if it's excessive you will need to adjust it so that it only has enough tension to stop the reel from overrunning when the trigger is released after the welding pass is completed. Beyond these items you will possibly need to look deeper into the machine, just keep in mind that these machines are not overly expensive to begin with and it may be a more economically feasibly move to buy a new one or a used one and keep yours for parts. Best regards, aevald
Parent - By brien Date 09-30-2007 21:40
It is not making any effort at all to spin the wire feed motor. I have checked the motor and it is good.
I know that there has to be a common denominator between the two, I just can't figure out what it is.
Parent - - By KSellon (****) Date 10-02-2007 16:42
when you pull the trigger the you ear an internal click and the gas comes on but no wire feed? Have you checked operation without feeding wire? Diodes will affect the weld not the feed motor.

Output voltage is developed at the output studs and fed back to the control board. This welding output voltage is also used to power the drive motor. The output voltage that powers the drive motor is varied and controlled on the control board.

DC voltage at drive motor armature (wires 539 & 541) The voltage should be between 2 vdc and 10 vdc. The voltage will vary with the wire speed control setting. If motor armature voltage is NOT present then check wire speed pot and associated wires (208, 209, 203) for faulty connections. There are voltages to check at the control board plugs, but I do not feel confident to provide those, as further damge can be caused if done incorrectly.
Parent - - By brien Date 10-02-2007 21:31
Measured voltage at 541,208,209,203 is less than 1 tenth of a volt. (.100 or less).
There is on cap on the board. Could this be causing the problem.
There is definitely 1 of the power diodes that are bad. I have not completely disassembled the case to check the other two yet.
Parent - - By KSellon (****) Date 10-03-2007 13:02
The diode part number M9661-40R has changed to M9661-39R (reverse polarity) $31.00. This usually fails when you have stuck the tip to the work surface.

In looking at the history of that parts sales in my shop, that has been the only part replaced the majority of the time. But I do not put the symptom on the repair invoice so I don't know what the customers problem was prior to repair.

Good luck.
Parent - - By Orinoco Date 12-20-2007 11:48
Hello Ksellon, I am new in this forum, but for i can read you are my only hope.
Weld pak 100 quit feeding wire and the motor will not turn. I have checked the control board and the tantalum cap at the voltage regulator burned up. I replaced it with the same and nothing happened. Replaced the transitor LM350t nothing either. I verify the voltage at the power amplifier and reads 5-7 volts for input and output.
Checked the voltages at the large 40volts capacitor is 23 volts which is the same going to the control board. The potentiometer reads from 1 to 5 k
Verified voltages at the diodes read 10.8 each one.
Is there any thing else i am not checking? Is the voltage from the choke coil correct 23 volts/
Should the power thansistor at the control board be 100 volts in instead of 8 volts?
Help
Thanks
Parent - - By KSellon (****) Date 12-20-2007 15:55
Why are you spending so much time (money) troubleshooting the board. You can get your board rebuilt with warranty at Innovat Corp in Marion Va. http://innovatcorp.com/ for $41.00 plus freight.

Have you checked the trigger circuit to make sure you don't have a short in the gun? If you can pull the trigger and NOTHING happens at the machine, not even a relay click, I would check the trigger circuit in the gun. But since you have found damaged/faulty components on your control board, other components have failed causing your cap to pop.. And since Innovat can rebuild and warranty them so cheap I don't spend the time running through the board. JMO
Parent - By Orinoco Date 12-21-2007 11:36
Thank you very much for the advice and for the name of the repair shop.
I found that the 2.7 ohms resistor feeding 23 volts to the power transistor was openned.
But you are right, there is a point where got to let go and let the expert do their thing.
Thank you again
ASR
Up Topic Welding Industry / Technical Discussions / Wire feed and arc problems

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